Connor Zilisch is ‘better than I was at that age,’ says Joey Logano

It’s easy to forget that Joey Logano has been full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2009. The 35-year-old is the youngest Cup winner in the history of the sport (19 years, 1 month, and 4 days), and has since gone onto the win three NASCAR Cup Series championships (2018, 2022, 2024).

Logano was one of those talents that everyone noticed long before he made it to the top level of the sport. Sometimes referred to as ‘Sliced Bread,’ Logano won in his ARCA debut at Rockingham at just 17 years old. After turning 18 that same year, he made his debut in the Xfinity Series, reaching Victory Lane in just his third career start. Less than one year after that, he was a winner in the Cup Series.

There are many who call Connor Zilisch the top prospect coming up through the lower divisions of NASCAR right now, and for good reason. By the time he became a full-time NASCAR driver, he had already earned class victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Sebring 12 Hours, and enjoyed success behind the wheel of Trans-Am cars and in the Mazda MX-5 Cup.

He will become a full-time Cup driver in 2026, driving for Trackhouse Racing, and there are a lot of expectations for the young racer, with some already comparing him to Jeff Gordon.

A better racer at 19, and more mature

Logano is among those who believes Zilisch is something special, praising the teenaged phenom during Playoff Media Day on Wednesday.

“I think he’s [Zilisch] better than I was at that age, and he seems to be more mature than I was at that age,” said Logano. I’d say that the biggest thing is it’s easy as an 18 or 19 year old to drink the Kool-Aid. Yeah, he’s a great driver. There’s no doubt. He can win a lot of Xfinity races. Cup racing is different. Everybody is that great at this level. Everybody is fantastic, so you can’t drink your own Kool-Aid too much to where you think you’re the next thing and then you’re gonna get here and fall on your face. 

“I lived it. I’ve been there. As good as I think that he is and will be, I also think that you’ve got to stay humble throughout it all and just remember what’s important.”

And all that hype around Logano nearly fizzled into nothing in his early years at the Cup level. Despite quickly reaching Victory Lane in a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire, he still struggled to adapt to racing at the top level of the sport. Eventually, Joe Gibbs Racing cut him loose, but Team Penske gave him a second chance to remind the sport what he was truly capable of … and he did not disappoint.

As for Zilisch, he is locked into a multiyear deal with Trackhouse and appears that team owner Justin Marks is ready and willing to help prosper as a Cup driver.

Logano now has 37 career wins, and he hasn’t had a winless year since 2011. It remains to be seen how quickly Zilisch can find success in Cup, or if he will struggle to adapt at first like ‘the best thing since sliced bread’ once did.